Professor Evans
by helpthehorriblelovethelonely
Summary: Harry Evans comes home from work to find a very unexpected guest in his living room. She gives him an offer, to come be a professor for the newly created art department. Who is he to refuse? HP/SS


Harry Potter was walking home from work on a warm august night, he hummed as he passed the familiar landmarks on his way to his apartment. He had had a long day, not a bad day, just a long one, and he was ready to get home and fall into bed. He climbed the stairs in his apartment building and turned he key in the lock, pushing open his door, he took his shoes off at the entryway and hummed as he walked towards his bedroom, he was ready for sleep.

He was just about to open his bedroom door when he realized he had seen a silhouette of a person in his Livingroom, he took three large steps back and looked into the sitting area, sighing a bit as he did, he wasn't getting that sleep Afterall.

Harry was 17 years old when he left England, he had just defeated Voldemort and he felt like he just couldn't stay there, he didn't know why, but he felt like he had to leave. So, he did. He packed up what little things he had and traveled around the world for a while, trying to get rid of the looming pain that the war had left in him.

He was a mess, truly, those first couple of years. PTSD both from the war and from childhood abuse and neglect led for a combination that wasn't favorable to any person. But he wasn't a teenager anymore, he was 26 and had been gone from the English wizarding world for 9 years now. He was happy with his life, maybe a little lonely with only a few friends here or there, but he was happy. He had a job doing what he loved and that he was good at, he lived in the muggle world but had access to the wizarding world if he needed it, his apartment was beautiful and looked out over the city around him, what more could he ask for?

Well, right now he was asking himself if he was dreaming, because the person that was on his couch right now, should definitely not be there.

"Hello Mr. Potter," came a sweet voice with a smile, Harry looked into the eyes of his old head of house, now headmistress of Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall.

"Minerva," Harry greeted slowly, as if acknowledging her would make her disappear. When she didn't and her eyebrow just raised at him, he went and sat down across from her. "Exactly how did you get into my house?" He asked curiously, he waved his hand and a tea set came flying in the room and landed on the coffee table gingerly.

"Oh," Minerva just smiled mischievously, a little surprised when she heard how neutral his voice was, there was almost no hint of a past accent, "the Floo network," Harry frowned, his fireplace was not and had never been connected to the Floo.

"That doesn't exactly answer my question, but I'll forgo it for now," He said calmly, pouring himself a cup of tea and leaning back in his chair to sip at him, he steadied a level gaze at Minerva.

"What are you doing here?" He asked suspiciously, he hadn't told any of his old friends where he was living, Hell, he hadn't even told anybody in Britain where he lived, he'd been in the united states for the last 6 years, nobody from over there should have been able to find him so easily.

Minerva ignored his question as she poured her own tea, "The years have done you well, Mr. Potter," she hummed, looking him over. Harry had grown a few inches sense the last time Minerva had seen him, his hair was long, tied in a messy bun atop his head, there were no glasses concealing his green eyes, and he had a full sleeve of tattoos on his right arm. He no longer looked like James reincarnate, Hell he no longer looked anything like the Harry anybody had known at school, his eyes were even different- a pastel green instead of an emerald.

"Yes," Harry answered, "It's amazing how a person can grow when nobody is trying to kill them," Harry teased, he pulled his hair out of the bun on his head and shook it out with his fingers, he might as well get comfortable.

"How have you been? How has Hogwarts been?" he hummed,

"I have been well, and with help from some very lovely volunteers we were able to fix the castle before the next term in the fall, she's right as rain and stronger than ever," Minerva smiled, "I assume you know I am headmistress now, and I have come to you with a job offer."

Harry frowned, "a job offer," He repeated slowly, as if making sure that is in fact what she said. Minerva nodded,

"Yes, I have an availability for a professor, and I think you would be well suited for the position," Harry's frown only deepened.

"Minerva, I appreciate your confidence in my abilities but if it's for the defense position I'm going to have to decline, I don't deal with that stuff anymore," Minerva waved her hand and gave him a look,

"Oh, believe me Harry, I am not stupid, I know where your career has taken you- don't think I haven't noticed the works by "Harry Evans," that have been popping up around galleries, not to mention your digital work both in and out of the office," she said smoothly, "your artistic abilities are truly amazing, I have to give you the respect you deserve in that category."

Harry blushed at the praise, he had gotten into art during his first year of travels, his love for it only grew with time. He was a professional graphic designer now, and if he were to toot his own horn, he would say he had made a pretty successful name for himself over the years. He also loved to work with pencils, pastels, and charcoal, those were the works that Minerva was mentioning were in galleries.

"What exactly would you want me to teach, then?" He was confused, Hogwarts didn't have any types of art classes when he was a student,

"Just as time has changed you, Harry, time has changed other things. We added a new arts section to the curriculum last year, we have music, dance, theater, and visual art programs now that students can take beginning in their third year, similar to divination or care of magical creatures in the way it's set up," Minerva hummed and drank some more of her tea. "I hired on new professors for each of the types of art, but our visual art professor was absolutely abysmal at teaching, and at doing really anything useful. All she ever did was spout on about how you have to slave away at a creation and blah blah blah," Minerva rolled her eyes and Harry couldn't stop himself from laughing softly.

"Minerva," he started after a moment, sighing as he thought over the offer, "I have a job here, this is my home, I can't just… up and leave the life I've made for myself." He waved around at his apartment. Minerva raised an eyebrow,

"You did it 9 years ago, did you not?" Harry couldn't help the distasteful look on his face at the comment.

"No, I didn't. Because I didn't make the life I was tossed into when I was a child. I was thrown into it by a stupid prophecy, then my parents were killed, and I was thrown in with my abusive relatives. then I turn 11 and get told I'm a wizard and I think maybe things will be okay, but I was wrong, I had to be the bloody savior of the wizarding world at 11 goddamn years old. I had to walk myself to my death in the forbidden forest that night Minerva, none of that was my choice, none of that was my life- it wasn't a life at all, I was just a pawn to defeat Voldemort, it was easy to pick up and leave," he was rambling, he knew he was, but he didn't care, he looked up at his old professor and she had a pitying look on her face.

"Harry," she started softly, she reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder, Harry felt oddly soothed by it.

"I did not mean it to sound as condescending as it did, I apologize for that. I am not asking you to leave everything behind forever and just come back to England as if you had never left. If you would like you can even be professor Evans as opposed to Potter, I'm not asking you to return to your old life, I'm asking you to consider starting a new chapter in the life you are currently living." Her voice was soft and gentle, it was like how she spoke to the scared first years.

Harry closed his eyes and sighed again, thinking over the pros and cons in his mind, "When would you need me to start?" he asked quietly as Minerva sat back in her seat.

"the students would return on the first of September as they always do, I would prefer you in the castle and settled within the next week, though." Harry pinched the bridge of his nose,

"would it be possible for me to keep my graphic design job if I were to teach? Could I still do freelance or work long distance with clients as well as be a professor?" Minerva gave him a look of slight surprise,

"I would have no objections to you continuing your professional work while you teach, merlin knows a teaching salary isn't enough on its own," Harry couldn't help the smile that crossed his face at her teasing. He sat back and thought about it for a moment.

"no Harry Potter? Just Harry Evans?" he found himself asking quietly,

"No Harry Potter," Minerva confirmed, he was silent for another long moment before he looked up at Minerva,

"Alright. I'll do it."

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Harry had spent the next few days working things out with his boss about how they would do the whole long distance thing, but eventually they got something worked out. He also had to open a new vault in Gringotts to put some of his money in and have it converted to galleons, he had to buy teaching robes, he had had to do a lot of things, but now here he was.

Harry had apparated to Hogsmeade and he looked around with a small smile, 9 years could really change a place, enough time could change anything. He walked up to the gates of Hogwarts where Minerva was waiting for him with a smile,

"Mr. Evans," she greeted,

"Headmistress," Harry smiled, they spoke comfortably on the walk back to the castle, Harry could feel the magic thrumming from the school, it made his chest hurt just a little bit. He must have showed it on his face because Minerva commented on it,

"It is always overwhelming coming back after a long period of time, but the pain should go away after a few hours," she patted his arm and he nodded, letting her lead the way. Instead of showing him to his rooms right away, she turned down a hall towards where Harry realized was a staff room.

"You are the only new hire this year, so some of the others might be a bit condescending, I do apologize in advance for their behavior," she said calmly, "you are just in time for the staff meeting I had scheduled,"

"Did I arrive by a stroke of luck or did you just so happen to plan this meeting around my arrival?" Harry asked with a small laugh, Minerva only gave him a smirk in return. Harry was a little nervous, he had no idea who any of the professors were anymore, but he calmed himself easily. He worked with new people almost every day, he could handle this.

Minerva walked into the staff room with Harry stepping in after, all of the other faculty members seemed to already be there, if the way Minerva closed the door behind her was any indication. Harry looked around the room to study all the faces.

There were a few things that Harry noticed off the bat, first off, the staff was much younger than it had been the last time he was here, second off, everybody was staring at him. His eyes traveled from each face, he managed to keep a blank mask on his face as he did.

There were several people from Harry's time at Hogwarts that he hadn't expected to see, for instance, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Luna Lovegood, and both Charlie and Ron Weasley. Harry swallowed a bit. He looked around the rest of the professors and saw Flitwick and Snape, but all the others he did not know.

"Everybody," Minerva spoke to get everybody's attention, Harry turned to her respectfully, "this is our new visual arts professor Harry Evans, I take it you will all welcome him to our school." They all just stared at Harry, he turned to them and smiled,

"it's a pleasure to meet you all, and to be able to work alongside you," he turned up the charm, hoping that it eased some of the tension in the room, it didn't. Harry turned to Minerva and gave her a look, she gave him a 'I warned you' expression before he went and sat down at the only open seat in between Hermione Granger and Severus Snape, he felt his anxiety pick up.

Minerva discussed the preparations they would need to start making now for when the students came back in a few weeks, Harry listened closely and even pulled out a small notebook and pencil, he held it in his lap and took notes as she spoke, not wanting to forget anything. He must have looked like he wasn't paying attention though, because when he looked up, he was receiving glares from everybody at the table except for Minerva. Harry sighed; this was going to be a long year.

Minerva dismissed them not long after she finished speaking, Harry was still jotting down notes and making a list to himself of the things he needed to do for the start of the year, so he hadn't moved from his seat. He saw as Minerva left the room and he made a point to write down a note to himself that he needed to find her later to find his rooms.

"Hey Evans" someone said, Harry looked up as his name was called and he paled when he saw basically the entire faculty save for Flitwick surround him. he had a brief flashback to when he was a kid and Dudley was playing Harry hunting, but he tried to push it out of his mind, he addressed the person who spoke to him,

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?" he asked politely, looking up into the eyes of the blonde, apparently Malfoy didn't like he politeness in his tone, because his eyes narrowed.

"You made a pretty dumb decision to not listen to the headmistress while she spoke, there was important information in there that you should have been paying attention to." Harry could feel the pit in his stomach opening up, he was just glad he wasn't prone to anger like he used to be.

"I was paying attention, Mr. Malfoy," Harry said calmly, he held up his notebook and handed it to him to show him his notes. Malfoy looked at it and somehow it just made things worse, because he glared harder at Harry. Harry noticed as Malfoy glanced down at his tattoos, Harry wondered if that was what this was all about, that he looked like some punk thug.

"look, Malfoy," Harry said quietly, he really didn't need this, "I don't know what problem you all see in me," this time he glanced around the group, he only noticed his magic was coming off of him in waves when he saw some of the others take a half step back from him. "but I'm not looking for any trouble."

"you're not from here, Evans," someone else spoke up, this time Ron Weasley, Harry looked at his old best friend and it felt like a knife was digging into his heart, he tried not to let it show. "You weren't here when everything went to shit, you weren't here when Voldemort was around, you weren't here to know just how bad it got," Harry felt another stab through his heart, it must have appeared in his magic because the group took another half step back from him.

"you don't know that," Harry looked over to see Luna staring at him as she addressed the group. He could see in her eyes that she knew, Harry closed his eyes and tried to reign his magic back in.

"how do you know he wasn't around?" Luna turned to Ron and Draco, the two stared at her incredulously,

"listen to him! he's obviously from the states!" Draco retorted, "just look at him! the clothes, the tattoos! He's spent far more time in the muggle world than in the wizarding world!"

Harry took a breath and glanced at Luna, hoping she would get the hint to drop it, she didn't.

"Draco," Luna said calmly, "maybe the wizarding world didn't deserve his time, anymore," she looked around the group before her eyes landed on Harry's pained eyes.

"maybe I should uh… maybe I should go…" Harry muttered, looking down at the ground and trying to make his way out of the circle of the staff but they wouldn't let him out. Harry felt panic start to bubble up inside of him, he didn't like being trapped.

He looked up at Luna who stepped up to him, she looked at him in the eyes for a moment before her eyes flicked to his forehead where his lightning bolt scar was practically nonexistent now, nobody ever stood close enough to him to see it, but now Luna was. she looked back into his eyes,

"did you go to Hogwarts?" she asked innocently,

"yes ma'am," Harry found himself answering, his nerves becoming evident in his voice, he winced, he should have lied.

He went to back out of the circle again, but he just felt the circle of people getting smaller. His claustrophobia was setting in, he really had to get out of there. "can I leave?" he asked Luna quietly, staring at her like she was a safe haven, Luna looked at him sadly,

"yes," she answered for the rest of the group, she linked arms with Harry and turned to leave, the circle opened up for them, Harry felt himself relaxing.

"listen," Harry spoke quietly to the rest of the staff, not looking up at them, "I know you hate me, I know you aren't probably ever going to like me at this point, but like I said, I'm not here to cause trouble, I'm just trying to teach some students about art." He felt Luna tug at him, he followed.

"what the fuck was that?" Malfoy asked incredulously, something about the guy felt weird, he didn't like how weirdly polite he was being, didn't like the way his magic felt, oddly familiar but not.

"it seems your wife knows the new guy," Snape said from his place against the wall in the corner, his eyes staring after the two who had just left.

"But how? there's no way she could have known him!" Draco looked exasperated, Severus turned to look at them, "You heard her ask if he had gone to Hogwarts, he did answer that he had. He must be from around here originally and then moved to the states," Severus shrugged,

"How are you so calm about this?"

"Why are you so upset?" he asked them, looking at all of the people that would have been in Harry's class, Harry. Severus frowned, Harry Evans. Lily Evans. Of course, Harry bloody Potter was their new colleague.

His question left his old students in silence, he shook his head and made his way out of the staff room.

"So," Luna began softly as she led them out onto the grounds for a walk, "why did you leave?" she didn't sound angry, just curious.

To Harry, it felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest at all the emotions he was feeling, he told himself no matter what happened, he wouldn't cry, he just lied to himself on that one. Tears fell down his face as he took in the familiar sights of the grounds that he hadn't seen sense the final battle.

"It hurt, Luna," Harry whispered, "I killed the bastard, and it felt like everything around me changed. It felt like the ground opened up and swallowed me whole, it felt like I had to leave. I felt like I wasn't welcome here, and now I know my suspicions were correct," Luna shook her head a bit,

"where did you go?"

"everywhere, for a while," he answered honestly, "visited a bunch of different countries, just trying to find a place I could call home. Nowhere felt like home though, it didn't feel like I belonged anywhere. No matter where I went it hurt, to just exist,"

"I that what the scar on your neck is from?" she asked softly, Harry winced, he hadn't known she saw it, he brought his hand up to cover the 3 inch scar over his jugular.

"yeah, tried to kill myself my second year into my travels, I was in India. I had tried to slit my throat, but somebody found me and brought me to the hospital there, I was hospitalized for 2 months." He said with a bit of a shrug.

Luna hummed and nodded, she laid her head on his shoulder as they walked, "where did you finally settle down?"

"New York," Harry smiled as he thought of home, "it really is a beautiful place, once you get passed all the tourists," he chuckled.

They talked for a while, about Harry and why he left and how he had been doing, then they switched to talking about how Luna's life had been. She told him she was married to Draco and Harry couldn't help but smile and how cute they would be as a couple.

"speaking of Draco, and I guess everybody else from our school days, what do they all do around here?"

"Oh," Luna chuckled softly, "Charlie Weasley is the care of magical creatures professor, Ron teaches defense, Neville teaches herbology, Hermione teaches history of magic, Draco is the arithmancy teacher, I am the divination professor. Severus still does potions, Filius still charms, and Minerva still transfiguration. The other three, Smith, Jolly, and Cavins are the three other arts professors." She explained, Harry nodded slowly, taking it all in.

By the time they came back inside, it was dinner time, Harry felt his nerves picking up again. Luna patted his shoulder gently and lead him to the great hall where all of the staff were eating around a large circular table. Harry for some reason thought they would be at the head table even during the summer, he was glad to see he was wrong. Luna sat next to her husband and she pulled Harry to sit next to her, Harry was thankful it was Minerva who was on his other side. She gave him a small smile, but at his face she frowned deeply, looking around the table and glaring at those who were staring at Harry in disdain.

Harry placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head, "it's okay, Minerva," Harry said quietly, "Just another day at Hogwarts where everybody hates me, it already feels like I'm back in school," he was joking, but his eyes were pained slightly, this just made Minerva a bit angrier.

Harry scooped up small portions of each of the foods on his plate, his plate was about half the size as everybody else's, apparently it was noticeable because Minerva commented, "Harry you can have more food than that," she was frowning, as if he thought he couldn't have any more. Harry made a face and shook his head,

"No thank you Minerva, being starved in childhood leads to not having much of an appetite, or stomach size." He meant to say it quietly, but it must have been louder than he had thought, or everybody was listening in because there were soft gasps around the table, Harry refused to look up at any of them, he felt Luna pat his shoulder and he just sighed, it really was going to be a long year.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

The rest of the summer passed with relative ease. Harry was ignored by his other professors for a while, they didn't like him, Harry knew that, and it didn't bother him, he was used to people not liking him. his summer was nicely quiet, he was able to get a few side projects in before the beginning of term.

The first month of school went exceedingly well for Harry, the students loved him, and his class and Harry found that he loved teaching. He continued his graphic design work on the side as well, it made him happy to be able to do both. It was a Friday night at the beginning of October, Harry was working on a project for one of his clients. He had had difficulty setting up his workstation at Hogwarts, getting the Wi-Fi needed was a bit tricky but eventually he had everything up and running and he had a little studio space off to the side of his living area.

There was a knock on his door and Harry frowned deeply, Luna was out for date night and Minerva wouldn't be coming to him this late, those were the only two who had any real reason to come to his suites. He saved his work before he got up and padded over to the door, he opened it to see who was behind it.

Severus Snape stood there, looking surprisingly patient as he waited for Harry to open the door, Harry furrowed his eyebrows, "is there something you need professor?" he asked quietly, him and Severus exchanged good mornings at breakfast, but that was about the extent of their contact with each other, Harry thought it was weird that he was there now.

Severus stared at him for a moment and Harry winced, he knew, son of a bitch. Harry sighed and opened the door for him to enter. Severus entered and looked around Harry's suites, noticing the decorations. The walls were painted a beige color, but all over the walls were prints of artworks from different artists, some framed paintings, traditional charcoal drawings, you name it, it was up there. The walls were almost completely covered, Severus was surprised he could even tell the color of the walls at all.

"Are you here to yell at me?" Harry asked as he went back over to his workstation and saved everything again before closing it down.

"No, Harry, I'm not," Severus said, Harry was a bit surprised by how easy going the voice was, he glanced over his shoulder to see Severus had sat down but was still looking at the art on his walls.

Harry went and sat on the opposite end of the couch as Severus, turning to face him, he watched him expectantly, waiting for him to start asking questions.

"Why did you come back?" was his first question, Harry was caught off guard, so far, people have only ever asked him why he left.

"Minerva was sitting in my living room one night out of the blue and she offered me the job, I had no intentions of ever coming back if she hadn't shown up," he replied honestly.

Severus gave him a weird look, "why did you decide to take the job?"

"Minerva convinced me, I also thought it might be fun to teach the students what I know because I love it so much, I just want to share that enthusiasm."

Severus finally asked why he left; Harry answered him the same way he had answered Luna.

"Where is your lightning bolt?" Severus asked after a moment, looking at his forehead. Harry chuckled and leaned in so Severus could see the hair thin mark,

"Lots and lots of scar cream and potions," he leaned back and crossed his legs,

"You didn't use those on the one on your neck?" Harry winced and his hand went to cover it, Severus looked like he was about to apologize but Harry shook his head and waved him off.

"They haven't been working quite the same, plus, I had 17 years of the scar fading naturally from age, and then 9 for the potions. This one," Harry rubs his neck a bit, a pained look showing on his face. "only had it for about 7 years, it's still relatively new as compared to the lightning bolt," he answered honestly.

"what happened?" Harry just looked even more pained,

"you don't need to know," was his answer, he looked up to see the almost gob smacked look on Severus' face, Harry gave him a polite smile.

"well, you know, good job for figuring it out. If you tell anybody I will murder you," the polite smile stayed on his face despite the legitimacy in his voice. Severus nodded in response and Harry stood to walk him to the door. Severus frowned, he had more things he wanted to ask, but at the look Harry gave him he figured it was best to go when he was excused. He stood and stepped up to the door,

"maybe we could have another chat like this?" Severus asked, he had too many questions that weren't being answered. Harry gave him a strange look,

"Maybe, maybe not." He responded, closing the door as soon as Severus was out of it. Harry leaned back against his door and took a shaky breath, right now he really wished he hadn't taken this job.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

It was 3 weeks later when Harry had his next confrontation with the other staff members. He had formed a tentative acquaintanceship with the other professors in the art department, but all of the ones from his year at Hogwarts were still either ignoring them or trying to pick fights. They didn't like when Harry didn't respond to their taunts of provoking, which only really made it worse.

Harry was sitting in the great hall for dinner up at the head table, he had eaten his small portion of food and was now just sketching in his sketchbook while at the table, there was still an hour left in the meal time and he knew he had to sit there, so he brought his sketchbook along so he didn't get bored, it's not like anybody talked to him anyway.

He was sketching an overview of the great hall when he heard somebody call his name, he looked up to see Ron and Draco smirking at him with this look in their eye. Harry swallowed, he knew those looks, those looks didn't bode well for him. He saw both Hermione and Luna trying to get their husbands attentions to talk them out of whatever they were about to do, but they weren't listening to them.

"yes Malfoy, Weasley?" he asked politely, he felt his sketchbook fly out of his hands and Harry frowned deeply. It flew into Malfoys hands and Harry felt his heart fall into his stomach, past his stomach, and all the way into the floor below him.

"Could you please give that back to me?" he asked, he'd had that sketchbook for years, it had a spell on it that kept adding paper to it whenever you got to the end, but the book would never get bigger on the outside, it was one of his favorite things.

The two were snickering, especially at the horrified look on his face, they started tossing the book back and forth between each other, Harry felt his anxiety spike, he was watching closely as they acted like children. At one point Minerva looked over and yelled at them, but it caused the book to get tossed randomly and it landed in a pitcher of pumpkin juice, Harry choked on a sob. He waved his hand and summoned his sketchbook to him, he looked through his book and saw that all of his work was starting to smear and smudge and run down the page from the liquid. He waved his wand and dried it with a spell, but the damage was already done.

Harry stared down at his sketchbook for a long while, when he finally looked up at the others, he was crying, he knew he was, he didn't care. "we are 26 years old," Harry muttered, "I have done nothing but try to be nice to you, done nothing but try to ignore your antics, goddamn it we're professors! We're supposed to be stopping the students from doing these types of things, and here you are acting like fourth years!" his voice was raising, but mostly in despair.

"I just wanted to teach kids art, was that too much to ask?" he gripped tightly to his sketchbook,

"Evans-" Malfoy started, an unsteady look on his face.

"Shut it, Malfoy!" Harry all but snapped, his magic lashed out in warning, he saw Luna stand and come up to him, Draco looked after her in surprise,

"Come on Harry," Luna said gently, noticing the students were watching quietly, many of them with furious looks on their faces. "why don't we go back to your rooms, yes?" she said soothingly, Harry turned his crying eyes toward her, then back to the men, then back to Luna. He nodded and he let her lead him from the table, his sketchbook clutched tightly in his hands.

"What the fuck was that for?!" Severus turned to Ron and Draco with a hiss, a fire in his eyes that had them both leaning away from him.

"What is your problem? Why do you have such an issue with him? Why are you being so unnecessarily nasty?" he spat, "After 3 weeks you were fine with the other arts professors, it's been almost 3 months! What the hell is your deal? Huh?"

"h-he… he just… Severus his aura is so weird! It's creepy! We can't trust that guy!" Draco answered, "He looks like some satanic vagabond! How can you not have an issue with him?" Severus' eyes flashed. He had met with Harry every Friday night sense the first time he showed up at his rooms, he was getting to know the man, and he knew that Harry wasn't just some reckless asshole, or even anywhere close to the person he was before he left.

"Have you ever had a conversation with him?" he asked, his voice was a hiss, at the spluttering reactions of all of the professors who were in the same year as Harry, he guessed they hadn't.

"You have been nothing but cruel, nothing but disrespectful and childish. you are acting like you are back in your third year again! You are disgusting examples for the students." He glared, standing as well, he looked over at the students, all of the third years and up were glaring at the professors, specifically Ron and Draco.

"it isn't I you should be worried about, the students love Harry, dare I say more than you, good luck in classes tomorrow gentlemen," he swept out of the great hall to go find Harry and Luna.

Severus could feel Harry's magic trail, he followed him down to the other's rooms and knocked gently. The door opened and he saw Luna, she opened the door to let him in. Harry was curled up on his couch, hugging his knees to his chest and flipping through his ruined book.

"Harry?" Severus called, Harry looked up at him and blinked,

"Oh, hello Severus," Harry responded quietly, Severus went and sat down next to him on the couch, rubbing his back.

"Are you alright?" Severus could tell he definitely wasn't,

"I've had this sketchbook for 7 years, you know," Harry ran his fingers along the cover where an H was embroidered into the leather. He opened up the front cover and you could see where he had written his name into the inside cover, Severus winced, he could tell Harry had had it for a long time because the name "Harry James Evans", was written inside, but crossed out above it was "Harry James Potter". He had had the thing sense before he even started using the Evans name, Severus felt fury build up in his chest at his two other coworkers.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Severus whispered, he was surprised when Harry leaned over and laid his head on Severus' shoulder.

"it's okay. I'm just…" Harry sighed "not everything is ruined, I should be able to continue to use the empty pages, but a lot of drawings are ruined. This sketchbook was the only thing I was allowed to have with me when I was hospitalized, it just means more to me than any of my other possessions."

"why were you hospitalized? When?" Severus asked gently, he wrapped his arm around the other's shoulders and rubbed his arm.

"suicide attempt, about 3 months after I bought the book, actually, almost 2 years sense I had left," Harry answered easily, Severus' breath caught and he looked up at Luna, she just traced her finger over her throat, he knew instantly what she meant. He got his answer for what the scar on his neck was from.

"Is there any way you can restore the drawings?" Severus wanted to help somehow, but he couldn't think of anything to do.

"I can redraw them; I used a water damage spell that people usually use on books, but it didn't work the same because they're drawings and not ink. Well, it fixed some of my pen drawings, but the others that are messed up are just going to have to be messed up," he sighed.

The three of them sat in Harry's Livingroom for a while, Luna and Severus just trying to be a comforting presence and keep his mind off of what happened. By the time they left Harry looked not as devastated, Severus guessed that was a good first step.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Another month went by, Harry didn't bring his sketchbook to the great hall anymore. He mostly just sat in his seat and pushed his food around, staying silent and trying to make his existence less noticeable. The other professors, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Charlie and Draco had all tried to pull him into conversation at some point, but Harry just ignored them, hiding deeper in his shell. He wondered if McGonagall had given them all a tongue lashing (she had), and if so, he wondered what she said that made them feel bad enough to try to start talking to him. He would glance up at them to acknowledge that they were speaking to him, but he always just went back to his food with that blank expression on his face.

Harry was walking from his classroom on the 8th floor down to his suites when he felt somebody grab his wrist and tug him into a half abandoned hallway, his anxiety started to spike, it only grew when he was turned around and he saw Draco and Ron standing there. what did they want now? He looked around them to see if it would be worth running, to see if he could duck into any alcove or climb up any windowsills or particularly bumpy stones, he didn't see anything like that, his panic only continued to grow.

Draco was the one holding his wrist, the man's lips turned downward in a frown as he saw and felt Harry's panic increasing.

"Evans, calm down," Draco tried to be calming, but that just made Harry more anxious.

"Evans, we just want to apolo-" Ron started to say when his eyes caught on something on Harry's forehead. Harry didn't like the way Ron leaned closer and squinted his eyes, his claustrophobia was flaring up, he was starting to breathe heavier. Draco turned to look at Ron and then followed his eyes to where he was looking, Draco's eyes widened, his hand let go of Harry's wrist out of shock, "Po-?" but Harry didn't stick around to hear the rest, he turned and bolted down the hallway, not stopping until he was securely in his rooms.

Draco and Ron looked at each other in horror, they had both seen it, the faint lightning bolt scar. Ron didn't want to believe it at first, didn't want to believe that the man he had practically been tormenting with Draco for the last 3 or 4 months was his missing best friend. He winced at the terror in the other's eyes before Draco had let go of him, winced at how he could feel the others magic spike in panic in the air. He frowned, no wonder the man had felt weird, no wonder his aura had been weird, it was because it was Harry. like _Harry, _Harry. and they hadn't been able to recognize it but deep down they knew it was his. Ron felt like he was going to be sick.

Draco was having a similar reaction, when he saw the faint remains of the scar his eyes had widened and he had let go of the other in shock, he really wished he hadn't now, because Harry had sprinted down the hallway like an animal who had been trapped in a cage. He turned to Ron and saw the self-loathing that crossed his friend's face, Draco was sure his face held a similar look. He should have put two and two together, the guy said he had gone to Hogwarts- told them that the first day he was here. He should have known that a black haired green eyed man named Harry couldn't have just been a coincidence, but if he was honest, he wasn't paying any attention to that. No wonder Evans' magic felt strange, felt creepy, because it was Potters magic behind a different façade, he should have known.

Severus was sitting at dinner that night already preparing his plate when he saw the younger redhead and the blonde professor walk into the great hall looking horrified, like they had just seen a ghost. Severus raised his eyebrow at his godson who just looked back at him with that same horror filled expression. Severus gave him a confused look but went to his food, although after 20 minutes when Harry didn't show up for dinner, Severus frowned and turned back to Ron and Draco,

"What did you do?" he asked, his voice low.

"W-we were just trying to apologize!" Ron stammered,

"Y-yeah! We were trying to apologize for the book and-" Draco began but he was cut off by a tight grip on his shoulder,

"Draco, love," Luna said sweetly, Draco turned to look at her and winced at the fire in her eyes, "Please tell me you didn't corner him," when he didn't respond right away the grip on his shoulder only tightened.

"He wouldn't talk to us! He was just ignoring us, we've been trying to apologize for a month now," Ron jumped in, looking at his wife to try to get some support. Hermione didn't know what was going on, so she just stayed out of it.

"But we got him in the hall, and we started talking to him, and we both noticed the scar," Draco lowered his voice and motioned towards his own forehead.

"Why didn't he tell us? Why hadn't anybody told us?" Ron asked, looking around the table at the others, but only the headmistress, Luna, and Severus seemed to have any idea what he was talking about.

"Ron, Draco," Hermione asked, shaking her head, "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Harry is _Harry._" he motioned towards the empty chair. Hermione looked at him confused for a moment before her eyes widened.

"He… he's been here for 4 months? And he didn't say anything?" she asked sadly,

"Maybe he would have," Severus snapped, "if all the people he had previously considered his friends hadn't started treating him like shit immediately upon his return!"

"Maybe he would have," Luna started coldly, "if you would have made any time to get to know Harry Evans for who he is, as opposed to the Harry potter you want him to be," Luna found a bit of pleasure at seeing the guilt in their eyes,

"Severus," she asked, standing, Severus just nodded and stood as well, heading out of the great hall and towards Harry's rooms.

There was a soft knock on the door, Harry jumped from his place where he was lying on the couch, he waved his hand to show who was on the other side of his door, when he saw Luna and Severus, he waved his hand again to open it. The two walked in and frowned when they saw Harry. Severus sat down in the open space next to Harry's head, he started playing with his hair soothingly. Luna perched herself on the arm of the couch, humming softly.

"They saw it, didn't they?" Harry asked quietly, Severus nodded his head solemnly. "I didn't want them to know, not after the way they have been treating me," Harry closed his eyes and leaned into Severus' hand. "they don't deserve to know, don't deserve to be back in my life if this is how they treat people,"

Luna sighed softly, "Harry, love," she said soothingly, "They aren't normally like this, Draco mentioned all the time that your aura, your magic felt weird. My guess is because deep down they knew it was your magic, but you weren't Harry Potter, so the face and the magic combination made them think something was up, like your magic was somehow not yours,"

Severus continued to play with Harry's hair, he could feel the man relaxing at the touch and Severus felt great pride at being one of the few people that Harry trusted.

"They are idiots, yes," Severus confirmed, "and they do not deserve your trust immediately after all they have done to you, but they are not bad people, they just make bad choices," he heard Harry sigh from next to him and then nod against his hand.

"It feels like I'm back in school again," Harry whispered, "except that now instead of potter stinks buttons it's tossing my belongings into pumpkin juice and cornering me in hallways, I think I prefer the buttons," he teased, Severus couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped him, he saw Harry smile as he laughed at his joke. Severus felt a fluttering in his stomach, he frowned as affection for the man flooded his senses, this wasn't going to be good.

Luna stuck around for half an hour or so before leaving, saying she needed to go find some stupid professors. It was Friday night, so Severus and Harry stayed where they were, continuing on with their Friday night traditions. Harry sat up and went over to the bar in his kitchen, he poured Severus some fire whiskey and himself some wine, they clinked glasses before diving into conversation.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Harry woke up the next morning with a sigh, he was exhausted, the day before had worn him out emotionally. He pulled himself out of bed and went to brush his teeth and take a shower, when he got out of the shower he got dressed and sat down at his drawing desk, he had a project he needed to work on.

It was an hour and a half later when Harry heard a knock on his door, he frowned and waved his hand to see who was there, when he saw Ron and Hermione, his frowned deepened, he stayed quiet and went back to his work, pretending he wasn't there.

They eventually left, but it was only another 2 hours of peace before there was another knock. He checked to see who it was and made a face at the small group of people that were outside of his door. Ron, Neville, Hermione, and Draco were standing there, waiting anxiously, Harry just ignored them again.

When the third knock came Harry could practically feel his eye twitching, he checked again and saw everyone who was there last time, but also Severus and Luna. Harry frowned, he saw Severus looking rather frustrated and Luna looked at his door apologetically, knowing he could see them. Harry sighed and saved the project he was working on before going over to his door and opening it slowly,

"Yes?" he asked, only looking at Luna and Severus who were in the front of the group.

"The idiots wish to speak with you," Severus said shortly, Harry frowned and looked at the others behind his 2 friends, he saw Ron and Hermione looking at him almost desperately, Draco looked apathetic, Neville just looked plain upset. Harry looked back in his rooms and realized he really didn't want them in there, it was his space to go to and be himself in, he wasn't about to taint that with the conversation that was sure to come. Harry sighed and rubbed his temples before summoning a cloak to him and stepping out of his rooms, closing the door behind him.

"lead the way, I guess," Harry knew he sounded bitter by the way the others flinched, he waited for them to turn around and start walking before he joined in, walking a few paces behind everybody else. He was watching the floor as he walked when he saw someone stop walking to fall back with him, Harry looked up and smiled at Severus, he felt a twisting in his stomach as he looked up at the older man, as they got closer. He felt the feelings, he knew they were there, but he sure did his best to either ignore them or squash them down whenever he had the chance.

"good morning, or well, I guess it's afternoon now," Harry hummed, his eyes crinkled at the corners as he teased a bit. Severus gave him a smile in return which made Harry's heartbeat quicken.

"good afternoon, have you done anything exciting?" Severus asked with a hum, just following the group in front of them wherever they took them, he assumed Harry was doing the same. Harry chuckled,

"I'm working on a project right now, I'm just trying to work out the kinks in the designs before I send them to the client for them to pick their favorite," he hummed, Severus nodded and continued to smile.

"what is your favorite part about being an artist?" Severus couldn't help the way his smile widened as Harry's face lit up. He felt that twist in his stomach again and Severus really wished he hadn't. Harry started talking about why he loved being an artist and why he loved art in general and he was so excited and carefree in that moment despite the anxiety he had been feeling. Severus nodded as he listened, he wanted to learn as much as possible about the Harry Evans in front of him, wanted to know everything about him, Severus was intent on doing just that.

Harry stopped mid-sentence when he realized they had stopped, he looked around and realized they were in front of the room of requirements. He saw Luna be the one to design the room and Harry relaxed a bit, she would give them a space that wouldn't make him uncomfortable. A door appeared and the group stepped into a large plush room, there were a few couches and soft carpet and a fire happily crackling in the hearth, Harry relaxed as he stepped in. He went over to a loveseat that was across from a very long couch and next to an armchair.

The others followed him in, Harry was worried about who was going to try to sit next to him, but he smiled when it was Severus, Luna sat in the armchair to the side and the other 4 sat on the long couch. Harry looked at them and blinked a few times,

"well?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and waiting for their onslaught of questions.

They all started talking at once and Harry sighed, "one at a time," he spoke over them, they quieted, Hermione spoke first,

"where have you been?"

"New York city,"

"is that why your accent is weird?" Neville asked,

"yes,"

"why did you leave?" it was Draco who asked this time.

"it hurt to stay," Harry responded quietly, he didn't like the look that his old friends gave him at that.

"what have you been doing the last 9 years?"

"I traveled the world for a couple of years and then settled in New York, beginning my career as a graphic designer and artist,"

"why didn't you write?"

"why didn't you?" Harry retorted, this made Ron and Hermione flinch.

"why did you come back now? After all this time?"

"I came home from work one night and Minerva was sitting in my Livingroom, she offered me the job and after consideration I said yes, although I might not have had I known you all were going to be here," he frowned just a bit.

"why didn't you tell us who you were when you got here?"

"you weren't at all interested in who I was as Harry Evans. You didn't talk to me, you didn't try to get to know me, you just treated me with disdain from the very first day. I had intention of telling you, but your actions are the reason I didn't say anything." His anger was rising, it must have been noticeable on his face or in his magic because Severus wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into his side for comfort.

"you told Snape, but you didn't tell us?" it was Ron who spoke, his own anger in his voice, Harry couldn't tell if Ron's anger was directed at him, or Ron himself.

"I didn't tell Severus," Harry responded, managing to keep his voice level. "He figured it out, he came to me and tried to get to know me, that's far more than you lot ever did," he sounded bitter, Severus rubbed Harry's shoulder and looked down at him,

"Harry," he said calmly, Harry looked up at him to show he was listening, "you need to calm down, it is reasonable for you to be angry at how they treated you, but shutting yourself down and hiding into a shell isn't going to do anybody any good here," he said softly, almost quiet enough for only him and Harry to hear. Harry nodded slowly and looked down at his lap.

Severus looked up and saw the four across from him looking at him in a mix between astonishment, disbelief, and confusion, they had never heard the man speak so kindly before. Well, Draco had, but it had been a while.

"Draco and I wanted to apologize for your sketchbook," Ron said after a moment, Harry nodded weakly,

"it was completely disgusting of us," Draco continued, "we can buy you a new one if-" Harry cut him off with a wave of his hand,

"don't worry about it, the book generates new pages when you get to the end of it, but it doesn't get any bigger on the outside. Plus, the paper wasn't the issue, I've had my sketchbook for 7 years now, it hurt to see my earlier things smudged and dripping and ruined." Harry responded quietly, "I appreciate the offer to get me a new one, but I don't need it."

"7 years?" Ron asked, his face paling at the thought that not only did he mess up the sketchbook, he messed up 7 years' worth of a sketchbook.

They talked for a bit longer, eventually Harry had relaxed enough that Severus had let go of Harry's shoulders and was now just sitting next to him listening to their conversation.

"so, Harry," Harry looked up at Neville, "I don't see a ring on your finger, no girl caught your fancy yet?" Harry snorted a bit and ran a hand through his hair,

"no girl will ever catch his fancy, Neville," Luna responded with a soft hum, Neville looked at her funny, but Harry just nodded with her,

"Had a couple blokes I dated for a while, nothing ever came of it, though." Harry shrugged, "haven't been with anybody in almost a year now, can't say I'm upset about it" he looked up to see the shocked faces of the four in front of him, as well as the shocked face of the man next to him, he winced a bit.

"is this where I get excommunicated again because I'm queer?" he asked, a bit of a joke but more serious than not. He watched as everyone quickly shook their heads to assure him that being queer was fine, that it didn't bother them any. Harry snuck a glance out of the corner of his eye to look at Severus who hadn't responded, but was still just giving him a strange look, Harry assumed that meant a bad thing. He hung his head a bit, his hair falling to cover his face.

Severus saw the way he reacted to glancing over at him and he all but winced, he patted Harry's shoulder to let him know he wasn't disgusted or anything like that. He watched as Harry relaxed just a bit.

"so, yeah," Harry muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, "no ring. I guess the whole permanently marking myself thing just isn't my cup of tea," he grinned up at them, he was happy when they all laughed at his joke.

"speaking of being marked," Hermione started, "what's up with the tattoos?" Harry's grin faltered, not entirely sure what she meant. He undid the first half of the buttons on his shirt and he pulled his arm out to show them the complete sleeve. It was somehow cohesive while each piece had nothing to do with the other, there were flowers throughout, there were geometric patterns, there was a dragon on his shoulder, the skyline of New York on his wrist, then there were just smaller filler pieces like a crescent moon, a paint palette, a piece of toast with a cute face, just random things that made Harry smile.

"Anytime I would get real bad again, I would get another tattoo, to remind myself that I was here and yes the pain was real, but that didn't mean it always led to bad things," he responded softly, trailing his finger over some of the tattoos, humming a bit as he did.

"what do you mean by get bad again?" Draco asked, Harry put his arm back in his sleeve and buttoned up his shirt,

"oh, whenever I would start having the suicidal thoughts again," he said casually, without looking up, he heard small gasps and finally he looked up at the steadily paling friends in front of him. he frowned, Harry's hand unconsciously went to cover the scar on his neck, but this only made things worse with the others.

Hermione started to cry, Harry winced, he never knew what he was supposed to do with crying women.

"Hermione?" he asked quietly, "do you want a hug?" it was the only thing he knew to do to try to comfort her, apparently she liked the sound of the idea because she jumped up from her seat and just went to sit in Harry's lap, hugging him tightly. Harry let out a noise of surprise when she landed in his lap, but he didn't mind so much, He hugged her back and rested his chin on her shoulder, he would be lying if he said he hadn't missed his friends at all in the last 9 years.

She eventually climbed out of his lap and pulled him to his feet, where he got a hug from each of the others. He hugged them back with soft smiles, he really had missed them. when he was allowed to sit back down, he did, humming a bit in his contentment. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back,

"Hey, one thing I should warn you, Harry Potter isn't my name anymore. If you call me Potter I will not be in a good mood. I changed my name to Harry Evans 6 years ago, and that is how I will stay," he said calmly, he heard the others whisper to each other before Hermione answered that that was totally fine and they wouldn't call him Potter, it made him smile.

After a few hours they all stood to head to dinner, Harry hadn't realized it had gotten that late until a clock suddenly appeared in the room to let them know it was time to eat. The others left in front of him, a conversation about quidditch starting up, apparently Neville's wife, Ginny Longbottom, was on the Holly Head Harpies, quidditch was brought up a lot amongst the group. Harry lagged behind a bit, trailing after them, his emotions were everywhere, he didn't know what to do with them all.

"are you alright?" Severus asked, falling into step beside him, Harry hummed a bit, running a hand through his hair.

"yes, I'm alright, it just feels weird is all. Overwhelming. Like I'm slowly making my way back to my old life, I'm not sure I like the feeling." Harry frowned, "I left for a reason, Severus, I don't want to just go back to being Harry Potter, Harry Evans is a different person, with a different life, I want to keep it that way. But it's hard with all the people from my old life coming into my new one," he heard Severus hum in response, encouraging Harry to continue.

"Minerva, when she came to offer me the job, she had mentioned that she's wasn't asking me to abandon the life I made for myself, but she was asking that I open up a new chapter, a new section of my life for things to change. It feels less like I'm opening a new chapter and more like I'm starting to read the third book in the series, even though I didn't want the second one to end," Harry's voice was soft, introspective, you could tell he had been thinking about this a lot.

"the story must go on, Harry," Severus said gently, "you may not have been ready for the second book to end, but that doesn't mean the story stops and changes completely in the third book. The third book is a continuation of the story, you still have the experience of reading the first two books, now you must apply what you learned from the first two and add it to the third. Maybe all your questions didn't get answered in the second book, but that doesn't mean the third won't hold those answers, you just have to keep reading." Even Severus was surprised by how soft his voice was. he stopped walking when Harry did, he looked down in worry and it only grew when he saw tears in Harry's eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," he frowned, Harry shook his head though and stepped forward to hug him. Severus was caught off guard, but he quickly hugged back, he both hated and loved the feelings that erupted in his chest. When Harry pulled away, he had a watery smile,

"Thank you, Severus," he whispered, Severus gave him a smile and nodded before they caught up with the group.

When they all sat down at the table and Minerva saw how they were interacting with Harry, she smiled over at the newest colleague. Harry smiled back and mouthed 'thank you' before starting to eat.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Christmas time in the castle was always Harry's favorite time of year when he was a student, and as a professor it was no different. Harry loved the way the castle seemed to thrum with extra life and magic from the excitement of the season but also just the general magic of the season itself.

It was their last day of classes before the students went home for the holidays, Harry was walking around his classroom and looking over everybody's projects with a small smile. He helped those who needed it, but they mostly didn't. Last week the older students had done critique on the big projects they had been working on, but now everybody was doing fun Christmas/holiday crafts. Either making Christmas cards or cutting out snowflakes or even making homemade ornaments, Harry loved the way the students faces lit up at the crafts.

The bell rung to dismiss classes and Harry heard his students whine that it was time to go, Harry chuckled, "if you have not completed your projects, and would like to, feel free to bring them back to the dorm or home with you to complete them." he smiled when his students perked up, they packed up their things and waved goodbye to him with shouts of "happy Christmas!" over their shoulders as they left. Harry smiled after them, he waved his wand to clear up the mess from the day before going over to his desk to pack up the things he wanted to work on over the break. He must have taken a while though, because when he looked up, he saw Severus leaning in the doorway watching him, Harry jumped a bit before realizing who it was.

"oh! Hello Severus," Harry smiled, none of the other faculty except for Minerva had come up to his classroom before. Harry was quite proud of it, it was much like his suites where it felt like almost all the wall space was covered, except for one wall where they did critique for their projects. The tables that had originally been up there were pretty flimsy and small, Harry had immediately transfigured them into larger, sturdier tables that his kids could do serious art on without having to worry about the surfaces falling apart underneath them. There were floor to ceiling windows on another wall, that was Harry's favorite part, he could look over the Hogwarts grounds when he wanted but also the natural sunlight that came into the room always did well for making art.

"hello Harry," Severus said after a moment, "your classroom is lovely," Harry blushed a bit at the praise but smiled up at him anyway,

"Thank you, my mentor used to always say 'garbage in, garbage out,' so I always try to fill my studio spaces with good art to help inspire my work, and just my creative energy in general," he hummed, he was putting paper in folders and Severus always thought it was cute that Harry used muggle school things for his paperwork and such, instead of in a professional holder like most the professors had.

"that is a good mentality to live by," Severus smiled, "you know, it's been almost 5 months and I don't think I've ever seen any of your digital work," his smile widened when Harry chuckled.

"if you would like to see some, we can head down to my rooms now, I have nowhere else to be," he smiled up at him,

"lead the way," Severus spoke, he followed behind Harry when he made his way out of the room. Severus did it to be chivalrous, you know manners and all that, but being able to stare at Harry's ass was an added bonus.

He stepped up next to Harry after a moment, they fell into easy conversation as they made their way back to Harry's rooms. When they walked in Severus couldn't help the smile on his face. Harry had decorated for Christmas, not ostentatiously, but enough to show Harry's spirit for the holiday. There was a stalking on the mantel of the fireplace, and off to the side of the fire was a small Christmas tree decked out in blinking lights and ornaments, half of which his students had made for him, it always made Harry smile to see it.

Harry went over to his digital workstation and he booted up his computer and drawing tablet, humming softly as he did. He pulled up 2 folders, one titled 'professional' the other titled 'personal', Harry beckoned Severus over.

"which do you want to see first? the professional stuff or the personal stuff?" Harry smiled up at him, offering him the seat in his office chair, Severus sat.

"professional, that way we can end on the more fun stuff," he chuckled, Harry smiled, the corner of his eyes crinkling as he did. He reached over and clicked on the professional folder which broke down into more folders listed by client's names. Harry hummed and pulled up some of the things he was especially proud of, not before having issues with his tablet which he was using as his monitor to show Severus the work on. Harry heard Severus chuckle at his frustration over his technical difficulties, Harry glared at him goodnaturedly.

Severus gaped; this was the stuff he did for work? He could only imagine what the personal pieces were like, the ones that Harry was allowed to put himself into. They looked at the professional folder for a while, Harry explaining what the clients wanted and why he did things the way he did. After a bit of that Harry switched over to the personal folder and pulled one up, Severus was mesmerized.

The first picture was a drawing of a dragon, done digitally, Severus thought it felt almost lifelike. the dragon was chained in a dark room, it looked pained, Severus wanted to reach out and touch it, as if he could help it somehow.

"that's the dragon Ron, Hermione, and I broke out of Gringotts," Harry explained softly before he went on to the next piece. This one was a field of flowers with a picnic blanket and basket sitting in the middle of the field. He clicked through several other pieces, all of them felt wildly different in subject matter, but Severus thought they all definitely felt like Harry. When Harry was done Severus looked up at him,

"those were amazing," he said, he watched as a bright blush crossed Harry's face, he pushed his shoulder a bit,

"Severus, don't you know complimenting me is just going to make my head even bigger?" Harry teased, his face still bright red as he leaned over to close out of the files, he cursed a bit as his tablet gave him troubles again, he pinched the bridge of his nose, took a deep breath, and then just went to use his computer mouse to do it, finally he shut down his computer.

Severus got up from his place in the office chair and made his way over to the couch, Harry stepped into his kitchen to grab their customary drinks before joining him. He handed Severus his whiskey and they clinked glasses, sipping and talking easily.

"are you doing anything for the holidays?" Severus asked after a while of conversation, looking Harry up and down. Harry just shook his head,

"I'll be here, no sense in going home when all of the important things are already here, I might go home for a day just so I can go to the diner I always go to on Christmas eve for breakfast, but other than that I'm just going to be here," he hummed a bit, "Hermione and Ron invited me over to the burrow, but I'm not sure I want to go, not on Christmas, anyway."

"why don't you want to go on Christmas?" Severus raised an eyebrow, Harry shrugged,

"because it'll just turn into an interrogation, or a crying fest, or a lecture from Molly. I'm used to being alone, Severus, it's hard to suddenly be around so many people all at once on things like holidays," he sipped his wine and swirled it around in his glass.

"no one should be used to being alone, Harry," Severus said softly, Harry just gave him a half smile,

"I've been alone sense I was a child, Severus, I know how to deal with loneliness," Severus almost winced at the casualty of the sentence, Harry had told him how horrible his relatives were to him, it made his blood boil anytime he thought about it.

"you're coming to the faculty Christmas party, yes?"

Harry chuckled and nodded, "Minerva would kill me if I didn't show," he pointed over to the pile of presents under the tree, "I have everybody's gifts already, so I'm thankful I don't have to head out into Diagon or Hogsmeade at all," he leaned back in the cushions of the couch and just hummed quietly, his eyes closed, the more he drank the warmer he felt.

"what have your Christmas' been like sense you left?" Severus wouldn't admit he as staring, but he was, adoration for the man in front of him in his eyes. He cursed to himself, why did he have to go and catch feelings? Why did he have to be greedy and want more than he already had with the man?

"oh, uneventful. When I finally settled in New York and found a job and everything, I mostly just stayed in my apartment and made art or watched movies. I had a boyfriend one Christmas, but that was the only time I shared it with anybody. The boyfriends come and go, but they're usually not around long enough to make it to the holidays." Harry took another sip of his wine, not bothering to look up at the other.

A confused expression crossed Severus' face, "why don't they make it to the holidays?" he asked, he himself hadn't had a lover in several years, but Severus figured it was just because he is, in fact, Severus Snape.

Harry made a face, "they weren't worth the time, or I wasn't what they wanted, wasn't what they thought I was going to be." He shrugged his shoulders. "The only reason I had a boyfriend the one Christmas, I think my first or second year in New York, was because we got together at the beginning of November, we were split by mid-January. I think the longest relationship I had was 6 months maybe? I don't know, I was never really happy when I was dating them, felt more obligated than anything. I tried to be a good partner, I really did, but it seems the whole love thing just isn't for me." He ended with a bit of a frown, he drank more, enjoying the warmth spreading in his chest that was drowning out the hurt and loneliness.

Severus listened to him talk, when Harry said that love wasn't for him, Severus could feel the man's magical energy in the air, it held pain and sadness. He wanted to reach over to Harry and pull him into a hug, but he refrained.

"what makes you say you were a bad partner?" Harry was quiet for a moment, Severus thought he wasn't going to answer at first, but he finally started speaking.

"I am usually just… not enough for people." He started, "I'm too focused on work, I didn't give them enough attention, I wouldn't put out whenever they wanted it, I was boring, I just wasn't giving them what they needed, I guess." Harry's nose scrunched up in distaste "a lot of them said I was too mature, that I needed to loosen up and act like the twenty something year old I am, but they wouldn't have understood even if I did try to tell them why I was the way I am." Harry swallowed the rest of his wine, standing up to go get more.

Severus frowned, he couldn't imagine how anybody could think Harry wasn't enough, he watched the man as he walked back into the kitchen for a refill.

As Harry stepped into the kitchen and he was out of view he sighed, pouring himself a full glass and drinking half of it in one go as he leaned against the counter. He felt his heart aching, not because of his exes, he didn't care about them, but because he finally found someone, someone he thought he could spend his life with, but they would never want him. he closed his eyes, why had he gone and fallen for Severus? Sure, he had a crush on the man when he was a teenager, but this was different, way different.

He felt his chest tightening with his feelings and he tried to push them away, but it only made them more noticeable. He sighed and decided hiding in the kitchen for the rest of the evening wasn't a good idea, he made his way back into the Livingroom after topping off his glass.

He thought maybe drinking more wasn't the best idea, he did tend to get rather chatty the more he drank, but he didn't care at this point, it warmed him like a hug.

"I was beginning to think you got lost," Severus teased, Harry couldn't help the small smile that crossed his face,

"no, just thinking, is all," he responded softly, he sat back down on the couch and they started their conversation back up, but this time with a different subject matter.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Harry hummed as he walked from his rooms down towards the largest staff room where the Christmas party was going to be going on. It was Christmas eve, Harry had mentioned going home for the day, but he decided against it and just spent the time in his rooms, on the couch with a blanket and hot chocolate while he watched movies, he thought it was a pretty good way to spend his time.

He pushed the door to the staff room open and made his way inside, "Harry!" was called in unison by just about everybody in the room, Harry couldn't help but smile as he made his way inside. He took out the shrunken presents from his pocket and they grew to normal size as they floated over to the Christmas tree, the couches in this room were set up in a rectangle/circle pattern so everybody was facing each other, Harry sat down next to Severus on one of the smaller couches.

"hello," he greeted, smiling at the people who were slowly becoming his friends again, he looked around the circle of people and his eyes stopped on the additional redhead in the room, Ginny Weasley. Or well, Ginny Longbottom now. She was looking at him and Harry just smiled at her, he watched as she got up from her spot next to hermione and yanked him up from his seat and pulled him into a tight hug. Harry made a noise, but he hugged her back.

When she pulled away, she held him at arm's length and looked him over, she whistled. "damn Harry, you look good, 9 years can really change a guy, huh?" she grinned, Harry laughed softly,

"not too bad yourself Ginny, looks like Neville scored a real catch,"

"damn right I did!" Neville called from where he was playing chess with Ron. Harry grinned at her and they both laughed before they sat back down. Everyone fell into easy conversation. After an hour or so of talking Minerva announced it was time to open presents, everybody seemed excited, even Harry was a little giddy.

The presents were passed around and opened, by the time he finished unwrapping all of his gifts, Harry had tears running down his face. He had gotten a Weasley sweater for the first time sense before the horcrux hunt (Ron), a book on the history of design (Hermione), a fleece blanket that thrummed with magic (Luna and Draco), an original artwork by an artist that he loved (Ginny and Neville), and a fine bottle of wine (Minerva). He was just opening his gift from Severus, inside the large box were two other boxes, one relatively large and the other pretty small, Harry looked up at the man with a confused expression.

"just open them," Severus said softly, smiling. Harry went back to the presents and decided to open the bigger of the two first. when he pulled the paper off, he gasped, Severus had gotten him a new drawing tablet, one of the newest models out there. He turned to Severus with wide eyes and his mouth agape,

"Severus! This had to have been expensive! Why-" Severus shook his head, effectively cutting Harry off,

"the other night I saw yours wasn't working well, or at least you seemed to be having difficulties with it, so I went ahead and got you a new one. Your other seemed to be rather old, so I assumed it was time for an upgrade anyway," he smiled, Harry opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to form words, but they weren't coming out.

"thank you," he finally managed to get out, tears pricking the back of his eyes. He reached back into the box to take out the smaller gift, when he unwrapped it his eyebrows furrowed, it was… his sketchbook? Harry opened it and flipped through the pages, but what he saw made him start crying. All of the pages were in pristine condition, the work looked like it had never been touched by any sort of liquid or tragedy. A little note inside read: "added a spell that repels all liquid that you didn't intend to put on it, so paints will still work, but no more catastrophes will harm it."

Harry put the tablet and the sketchbook down next to him on the floor before he practically lunged at Severus, hugging him tightly. Severus became worried when he saw Harry start crying, wondering if he maybe had done something wrong. But when Harry hugged him, he knew the tears were from happiness and he smiled a bit, hugging Harry back just as tightly, his ever present feelings for his friend only intensifying. The younger man just kept saying "thank you," over and over again, Severus hugged him tighter.

When Harry pulled away he laughed softly, wiping the tears from his eyes, he looked over at what Severus had received and noticed he hadn't yet opened the one from Harry, he plucked it out of the pile, "open," he said firmly, pushing the gift into Severus' hands.

Severus smiled and shook his head a bit, he unwrapped the gift and was curious upon seeing the long slender box, when he opened it his breath caught in his throat. "Harry… is this a crystal stirring rod?" he asked quietly, staring at the gift, Harry nodded, Severus just stared at him for a moment. Crystal stirring rods weren't just expensive, they were hard to find, fragile, and _very_ important and valuable to a serious brewer.

"I know you shouldn't have any type of charm or spell on the stirrer itself because it could mess up the potion, but I put several charms on the case so there's no way for it to fall from a shelf and be broken, for example." It was Harry's turn to smile, Severus gingerly put the stirring rod back in its case and closed the lid, Harry was pulled into a hug and it felt like his heart skipped a beat, he smiled and hugged back, enjoying the others warmth. They hugged for maybe a moment longer than would be normal, and while neither of them noticed it, the others on the other couches sure did.

After they opened presents they settled back in to conversation, Harry was radiating, this had to have been one of the best Christmases he ever had, the only other one he thought might be able to top this was when he was in first year, he smiled at the thought, his first year at Hogwarts and his first year back at Hogwarts, the two best Christmases he had ever had.

They stayed in the staff room for a while, just talking and enjoying the night. It was half past 11 when they all decided to head up to their rooms. Harry felt a little sad to see the moment end, but he knew he would get more moments like this in the future.

Harry shrunk his gifts down and put them in his robe pocket, when he stood, he heard Severus walk up next to him, he turned towards him with a smile,

"might I walk with you to your suites?" Severus smiled and Harry nodded,

"you might," was his answer, Severus chuckled a bit as the two left and walked down to Harry's rooms, Harry hummed as he walked, "thank you, again, for the gifts. They really mean the world to me," Harry spoke quietly,

"you are absolutely welcome," Severus responded, smiling down at him, "I am glad I was able to give you something that made you so happy."

They stopped in front of Harry's door and spoke for a bit longer before saying goodnight and heading in opposite directions, Severus towards the dungeons and Harry into his rooms. When he closed the door behind him Harry leaned against it and couldn't help the goofy grin that was plastered to his face.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Christmas day went by uneventfully enough, Harry stayed in his room, wearing his Weasley sweater, wrapped up in the blanket from the Malfoys, while he set up his new tablet. The next week or so went by without much excitement, on New Year's Eve though, he spent the night with his friends, watching the ball drop on the TV in the room of requirements, Harry thought he was starting off his new year on just the right foot.

Now they were back to classes, had been for a few days now, he was humming and having a laid back week with his students, knowing how difficult it was to get back into the swing of things after break. They were just having a day where they could draw, craft, paint, basically do whatever they wanted to do, create whatever they wanted to create, just to get their minds back in the groove. While the students did that, Harry sat at his desk and worked on his own project, Severus' birthday was in a couple of days and he knew the man didn't usually celebrate his birthday, or when he did there usually wasn't presents because of its close proximity to Christmas, Harry wanted to change that.

On the night of Severus' birthday, Harry made his way down to the dungeons to give him his gift. He knocked on the door and smiled when he answered. "happy birthday!" was the first thing out of his mouth, Severus gave him a small smile and let him inside,

"thank you, Harry," he hummed, sitting down on the couch, Harry followed and sat down next to him, he pulled out the gift and handed it to him with a grin, Severus raised his eyebrow at him and Harry just motioned for him to open it.

Severus slowly undid the paper and when he finally had it unwrapped, he was staring at the back of a good sized picture frame, he turned it around and gasped at what he saw. Inside the frame was a drawing done in chalk pastels of a bubbling cauldron, pinkish purple steam coming from it. Severus almost jumped when the art literally moved, the marks making the steam come from the cauldron and float away at the top, except steam dragons were forming from the mist, flying off before finally disappearing at the top of the page. He looked over at Harry who was smiling at him nervously,

"you made this, for me?" Severus asked quietly, Harry nodded his head,

"do you like it…?" he asked, a little unsure of himself,

"god Harry, I love it," he whispered, going back to staring down at the drawing. He finally put the frame down on his coffee table before pulling Harry into a hug, Harry relaxed against him and hugged him back, humming softly.

They pulled back just enough so they could look each other in the eyes, Severus ran his hand through Harry's hair, he loved the way Harry leaned into his touch. Severus watched as Harry's eyes flicked down to Severus' lips for a second before backing up to their previous position and a blush flooded his cheeks. Severus took a deep breath, it was now or never, he leaned forward and closed the small gap between them, kissing him softly.

Harry gasped, it felt like fireworks were going off in his chest, he must not have responded quick enough because Severus began to pull away, Harry wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him back in, kissing him thoroughly.

Severus pulled Harry into his lap and wrapped his arms around his waist, when they finally broke the kiss for air, Harry radiated happiness.

"I've wanted to do that for ages now," he admits, Severus laughs softly and pecks his lips.

"will you be my boyfriend?" he asked, Harry nods,

"of course, you idiot," Harry kissed him again.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Severus and Harry weren't trying to keep their relationship a secret, not by any means, they flirted at meals and snuck kisses in between classes and there was always one person who wasn't at their own rooms. They had been together for 3 months now, most of the students knew about them, or at least, the upper level students could tell. Luna had known instantly, like, that same night she congratulated them. Minerva knew, as well, Somehow the headmistress always knew what was going on in the castle, Harry couldn't tell if it was because of her being headmistress, or because she frequented herself in the Gryffindor gossip ring, though.

Severus had walked into Harry's rooms one Friday night snickering to himself, Harry looked up from his work and smiled at him, before raising an eyebrow at the laughter, Severus just shook his head and sat on the couch. Harry saved his work and walked over to the couch before draping himself across Severus' lap.

"what seems to be so funny, Mr. Snape?" Harry grinned, he loved to see Severus so happy.

"Hermione came up to me today," he continued to snicker as he snaked his arms around Harry's waist, "and asked if I was ever going to act on my feelings for you," Harry just stared at him for a moment before he started laughing,

"wait, are you telling me that they haven't put two and two together, yet?" Harry shook his head,

Severus just nodded, "75% of Hogwarts knows, for Merlin's sake!" Harry continued to laugh, he laid his head on Severus' shoulder,

"how long do you think it'll take before they find out?"

"I have a feeling it'll be at least another 2 months unless we tell them," Severus kissed Harry's temple, the two looked at each other and smirked, this was going to be good.

They were right, of course, Harry and Severus continued on acting how they always did, it wasn't like they didn't show PDA, it was just subtle, and it wasn't their fault if the others couldn't read subtle. It was going on two and a half months sense Hermione had gone up to Severus and asked if he was going to act on his feelings. Harry could still see the frustration in his friends eyes whenever the two were close, he figured it was time for them to tell the others, in their own way. Especially now that it was the end of term.

Classes would be ending in just a few days, the professors could either stay at Hogwarts or go home for the summer, Severus had decided to come stay at Harry's home in New York for this summer, he was quite looking forward to the time away. Sense Harry had given his friends his address and told them to stop by during the summer when they were free, they figured they should at least tell them they were together before they just showed up and found Severus there.

They were at dinner, Harry and Severus were talking softly and just generally flirting, Harry was telling Severus about the American apothecaries and potions stores, the potions master was very excited for his visit to the states.

They spoke for a bit before Harry stood, "I have to head back to the rooms and get some work done before I have to pack up my tablet for the trip back home, I'll see you after you finish eating?" Harry smiled, he tried to keep the butterflies out of his stomach as he saw the glint in Severus' eyes.

Severus grinned and nodded, he pulled Harry down into a searing kiss, Harry kissed back happily and when they pulled away, he almost had a dazed look about him, "I'll be up as soon as I'm done," Severus hummed, Harry smiled and nodded before leaving the great hall.

Severus turned to see everybody at the staff table except for Minerva and Luna staring at him with their mouths open, Severus raised an eyebrow.

"what was that, Severus?" Draco asked astounded,

"I was kissing my boyfriend?" Severus said innocently, turning his head to the side a bit and having to fight to keep a grin off of his face.

"excuse me?" Hermione speaks next, "did you just say boyfriend?" Ron continued for her,

"yes, my boyfriend. We have been dating for 5 months. You didn't know?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows, "I thought we were being pretty obvious about it, I mean a good portion of the students even knew."

"No, we didn't know!" Draco threw his hands up in exasperation, "we thought you two have just been dancing around each other for months!"

"god that makes so much more sense," Ron shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Severus laughed softly, earning him glares from his colleagues, "I'm sorry, I just think it's funny, is all. Minerva and Luna knew, so did most of the students," he stood and started to head towards Harry's rooms, "excuse me, if you will, I have a boyfriend to snog," he teased over his shoulders, relishing in the astounded looks he received from his and Harry's friends.

"Are you ready, love?" Harry asked, smiling as he turned towards his lover. Severus had just walked through Harry's door with a suitcase for their travel back to Harry's home. The cool thing about being wizards was that you only needed the one suitcase.

"I am, yes," Severus grinned, he stepped close to Harry and wrapped an arm around his waist, Harry smiled and apparated them to his home.

They apparated into the middle of a dark Livingroom, Harry hummed and took out his wand, waving it around and casting an intricate cleaning spell, when he was finished, he waved his hand to turn on the light.

Severus looked around the room they were in with fascination, Harry's home seemed to be decorated similarly to how his classroom and suites in Hogwarts were, that is to say, the walls were covered. Severus loved looking at the art that Harry had on his walls, he felt it gave him more details about what his love liked and who he really was.

He turned after a moment and saw Harry had sat down on the couch and was just sitting still, his eyes closed, just taking in the stillness in the air and the sound of the city through his windows. Severus went over to his boyfriend and sat next to him, giving him his moment but letting him know he was there for when he was done.

Harry blinked his eyes open a few minutes later, he turned and looked at Severus with a smile, "Severus?" he whispered, his voice sounded unsure, unsteady, Severus frowned a bit.

"yes Harry?" he asked softly, moving his love into his lap.

Harry leaned their foreheads together, "I love you," he breathed, Severus found his breath hitching at Harry's declaration. The potions master held him close,

"I love you too, my Harry," he whispered back, he could feel Harry's magic practically explode around the room in happiness, Severus was brought into passionate kiss, Harry clung to him as if he would disappear if he didn't.

When they pulled away Severus smiled and leaned their foreheads together again, he had never felt so happy, so content, so whole in all of his life, and it was all thanks to Harry.

Harry cuddled into him and hummed, he didn't know how the future was going to pan out, he didn't know what the next chapter of his life would be like, but he was excited to find out, knowing Severus would be in it.


End file.
